The Judges:
Myself, Ryan Turner, Chad Meindl (@chadmeindl), Dan Weiser (@badger_alum1) and four other judges
The Competitors:
Capital Capsized, Central Waters Illumination, O’so Lupulin Maximus, New Glarus IIPA, Lagunitas Maximus, Sixpoint Resin
The Rules:
The beers will be blinded so none of the judges know which beer is in each glass. Each of the judges will be asked to pick their favorite brew based solely on personal preference. Each judge will rank the beers in order 1-6 and then points will be assigned in reverse order based on the rating (e.g. 6 points for favorite beer and 1 point for least favorite). Here is the blinded line-up:
The Results:
1. Central Waters Illumination – 35 points
2. Sixpoint Resin – 32 points
3. New Glarus IIPA – 30 points
4. O’so Lupulin Maximus – 28 points
5. Lagunitas Maximus – 27 points
6. Capital Capsized – 16 points
Board of Director Results:
1. Four way tie: CW Illumination, O’so Lupulin Maximus, NG IIPA, Sixpoint Resin – 17 points
5. Lagunitas Maximus – 12 points
6. Capital Capsized – 4 points
Personal Reaction:
Let’s start at the bottom. This is the first ever Double IPA from Capital under their new brewmaster and the scores speak from themselves. I feel pretty good saying Maximus was the second worst beer in the competition. I am commonly underwhelmed by Lagunitas and this beer didn’t buck that trend. All the rest of the Double IPA’s in this tasting I would rank as slightly above average. I absolutely love Double IPA’s and not one of these beers really blew me away. My personal favorite was Resin since it falls under the punch-you-in-the-face variety rather than the easy drinking variety. When I drink a DIPA, I don’t want it to be easy drinking, but that is a personal preference I thought the New Glarus and Central Waters varieties were both solid. O’So is cute and puts a hop cone in the each bottle, but it doesn’t really do much for me. Overall, none of these beers live up to the Ruinations and Dreadnaughts that won previous blinded taste-offs and really define this category.